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Saturday, 19 December 2015

Chennai - December 1, 2015...

Never has the sound of rain drop been scarier. When the first drop hit the floor, it was a welcome relief to a city after a dry spell. By the time the last drop came down, the whole city was a disaster. People lost their lives, their houses, their belongings and their loved ones to the horror. It was nearly 30 hours of incessant rains coming down on an unsuspecting city. Mother nature came down with all her fury and washed away everything that came her way.

It was a disaster, a true one! Everywhere you turn, there was water. Railway tracks were broken, telephone lines were damaged, streets and roads were rendered impassable and bridges collapsed. When all hopes were lost, humanity rose from the debris like a Phoenix bird. Yes, humans stood for each other.

The true heroes of the city looked up from their phones. They had a job in hand and they went about it without a fuss. The social media turned from being a 'waste of time ' to a life-saver for once. Facebook status updates were used for distress calls and troll pages turned into help pages. People became one in the event of distress and religion, cast and class were swept away by the raging floods.

An RJ turned from being an entertainer to being the face of the youth and a cine actor freaked out on losing his home and came out to help the people in need. Many other silent heroes worked day and night to restore the lives of those affected. An auto-wala refused to get paid for the ride and instead requested the passenger to donate it to the affected. An old woman cooked 7 days straight for the homeless. Theaters, shopping malls and IT companies threw open their doors - this time without parking charge! Hotels and restaurants offered food - this time without a bill at the end. Cab and auto-drivers offered to drop people at their homes - this time without meter. Help also poured in from other cities, other states and even other countries. Within 7 days, the city was almost back to normal.

But there is a marked change in the people after the disaster. They are more considerate to their fellow beings. They honk less (we can't stop honking because honking is in our genes!) and wait for an elderly to get to the other side of the road safely. Thank you rain, for showing humans their human side. Thank you rain, for showing us our true heroes. Thank you rain, for reminding us of nature and her power. Thank you rain, for washing our ignorance, hatred and greed off us.

We have risen from the water like the Phoenix rose from the ashes - stronger!